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About Lisa Marie

Lifestyle photographer based in Sydney’s Inner West
My favourite subjects are children and capturing their special moments
I’m also a sucker for travel, good food, cultural events and finding beauty in the smallest of everyday things

This post celebrates The Retro Baby’s First Birthday in Flamingo Style I love first birthdays- they are such a special celebration for bub , mum and dad. Because Lucielle (Lucky or Luckster as we also call her) is a winter … Continue reading →

Yes! Things have been pretty quiet around here since my last post when I was cooking up a storm with Amy from Chat Thai in February! A few days after The Retro Hubby, Retro Boy, The Retro Baby and myself … Continue reading →

Those of you who know me know that I love a good cooking class! And! Like most people we all have a favourite Thai restaurant right!? My favourite Thai restaurant is Chat Thai – They are now in several locations … Continue reading →

He’s 4! I can’t believe my very first born baby (boy) is 4! Where did the time go? And wow – what a beautiful enriching time it has been. This has been the greatest most rewarding experience of my life. … Continue reading →

Burning more than my current norm of sleep deprivation thanks to The Retro Baby.

I’ve had these big fat tears that just kind of hang around but don’t actually fall.

Yesterday started off as a normal day- I arranged with a friend to meet in the city with her new bub. Just as I got off the tram I heard about the hostage situation at the Lindt Cafe in Martin Place. Gosh, it just didn’t seem real. I called my friend who was running late and on the train. I could hardly get the words out. I was choking on them. I told her that it probably wasn’t a good idea to come in with the bub because so little was known. We agreed that we would meet another time.

The Retro Boy was having a play in the park as I decided if we should go home or not. I considered us to be safe distance to Martin Place. Then I read internet reports that the train line had been shut off between Bondi and The City. Thats when I started to worry. Typical – The day we caught public transport in, what if we got stranded in the city? Big Pram, baby and 3 year old. It was a worry. It was not known what exactly was happening over at the Lindt cafe, but there was lots of speculation of it being linked to terrorism. When you look at what happened in London, with the buses being bombed and the train stations it was enough to make me think we needed to leave immediately. Of course The Retro Boy did not want to leave, he was having a great time playing – So i bribed him. I told him that we had to leave right now to go get ice cream. It worked. We got on the tram, got in the car.

The same baby who kept me up all night decided to sleep all afternoon. The Retro boy had a 3 hour nap too (this NEVER HAPPENS!!) – I sat glued to the tv all afternoon watching the hostage situation unfold. I saw the 3 men escape , then hours later the 2 ladies. My heart was breaking and aching for these people.

Then late last night the #illridewithyou hashtag started trending on twitter to show support for Muslims in Australia who are afraid of an Islamophobic backlash. Offers of support inundated social media offering support to anyone who feels afraid to travel alone. It is so sad that this is the reality of the situation.

Right now you could say that I’m a stay at home mum ( well work at home mum ) – I don’t get out and about that much- so it’s hard for me to #illridewithyou – But what about all those Muslim Australian Mums our there- or mums of different cultural backgrounds. How are they feeling right now? How could we reach out to them? It’s starts with our children, playing together, learning about each other and growing together. Cultural diversity is a special thing and enriches our country. No one should ever feel alone.

It starts with us smiling as we walk past them pushing their pram every day – then it eases to a hello over time. Perhaps you’re in a Dr Surgery together or down at a playground, the family across the road or in your apartment block. Don’t be shy, reach out!

#illplaydatewithyou you is not just for the situation many Muslim Australians may be feeling right now, it is for everyone of all backgrounds. It’s about love and support regardless of who you are. All children love to play with each other – and that there is our common bond. I hope that this can help inspire small acts of kindness and bring people together.

This morning we woke, The siege had ended. The gun man dead and along with 2 of the hostages. My eyes still burning, this time those big fat tears falling.

It is important to remember these were the actions of one man only and he is to blame

I’m not here to get into any arguments, just to encourage people to reach out to each other

A few months ago I was having (and quite often have) one of those moments – Where you have all these amazing ideas but just don’t know how to get them out of your head. I think that I had been feeling like that for such a long time. It holds you back and stops you from reaching your fullest potential (throw in a baby and a 3 year old – I’m sure you understand!)

I put the word out there into cyber space looking for guidance and to my surprise, I received a beautiful email full of support from a woman called Kylie Ostle.

Kylie runs a network called Mum Society ( http://www.mumsociety.com.au ) with the whole purpose of supporting mums on maternity leave and those with young children. She does this by hosting monthy networking events with motivational speakers and working closely with businesses know the true value of mums in the workforce, who want to employ mums.

Today I was lucky enough to attend Kylie’s monthly brunch (so popular it sold out!) – Our guest speaker was Nikki Parkinson from style blog “Styling You” ( check her out here : http://www.stylingyou.com.au) . “Balance is not a dirty word” was what the morning was all about and It was great to hear Nikki’s take on it. She’s pretty amazing!

The biggest thing that I took away from today was that All mums are busy -We need to stop taking on everything ourselves and reach our to our circles. Our family circle, our work circle, our mums at the school gate circle, online circles and so on. These little circles are so important.

So Nikki was amazing, but one other thing that I love is that you are shoulder to shoulder with SO many inspirational mums and women. It is such a warm, friendly and motivating environment. I already can’t wait for the December brunch!

These brunches are held at The Grounds of Alexandria and for those of you who have been you would know that the venue is just beautiful and the food is always fabulous. It was great to be able to sit down and enjoy the event while the nannies on hand were there to care for the little ones! oh – and there are lucky door prizes too ! ( I won a prize from Bellabox https://bellabox.com.au)

When my son was born almost 4 years ago – all the confidence I had flew out the window. That was ridiculous really when I had so much experience behind me, I was lucky though to have a wonderful family friendly employer, but when The Retro Baby was born this year, I really wanted to make sure history didn’t repeat.

I believe it is so important to continually invest in yourself so that you can be the best version of yourself and The Mum Society is a great place to start

I will be having my first market stall on Sunday the 7th of December 2014 at the Now and Then Christmas Market in Sydney with my entire range available to purchase on the day! For more information about the markets you can visit their site: http://www.nowandthenmarkets.com.au

In September this year whilst on maternity leave with The Retro Baby, I signed up to do a Blogging course through Clever Cookie – School of Blog ( http://clevercookie.co ) In order to do the course, I needed a blog- which is … Continue reading →

The last 2 days have been kind of crazy! Lets rewind to Monday. It was a close friends Birthday and I wanted to surprise her. As we have just come back from holidays I hadn’t a chance to buy her … Continue reading →

Click at will on my collection of videos, stories and reviews. I'm a final year journo student, freelance writer & budding doco maker with particular interests in all things food, comedy and over-sharenting.